TOP

Definition of tussle noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tussle

noun
 
/ˈtʌsl/
 
/ˈtʌsl/
jump to other results
  1. tussle (for/over something) a short struggle, fight or argument especially in order to get something
    • He was injured during a tussle for the ball.
    • There was a legal tussle over the closure of the hospital.
    • She had a brief tussle with her conscience before telling the whole story.
    Extra Examples
    • Five teams are involved in the tussle for promotion.
    • There is a tussle for power before the Congress convenes.
    • a tussle between the country's parliament and government
    Topics Opinion and argumentc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • brief
    • little
    • legal
    verb + tussle
    • have
    • be engaged in
    • be involved in
    preposition
    • in a/​the tussle
    • tussle between
    • tussle for
    See full entry
    Word Originlate Middle English (as a verb, originally Scots and northern English): perhaps a diminutive of dialect touse ‘handle roughly’ of Germanic origin and related to German zausen.
See tussle in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

Other results

All matches
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day